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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26817565">Whumptober 2020 04 Alt 12 Water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankie_mcstein/pseuds/frankie_mcstein'>frankie_mcstein</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Feels, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Hypothermia, In-Series, Pre-Series, Whumptober 2020, boys as a team, mild whump, poor whumped Higgy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:47:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26817565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankie_mcstein/pseuds/frankie_mcstein</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Whumptober 2020 04 (Alternative 12)- Water</p>
<p>Magnum charged at the guy, hit the side of the bridge, and fell into the icy river running below.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947172</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Whumptober 2020 04 Alt 12 Water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I don't know how Higgy ended up in hospital, but I needed her to be there so, as usual, I share the whump between the one idiot and the other idiots lol! Poor Rick and T.C. must be gathering grey hairs by the day with these two.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>'Just my luck,’ Magnum thought as he sprinted for the stairs. What should have been a quick in 'n out, something to ease his team back into the field after bad intel had led to them having to scrub their last mission, had turned out to be ever so slightly harder than expected. Their usually reliable source had told them an arms dealer was hiding out in this old retreat site in the middle of the Drakensberg Mountains. Instead the Omega team had ever so carefully sidled their way into a full blown human trafficking ring. By the time they’d realized exactly what they were seeing, the roving patrol (intelligent human scum? Great.) had raised the alarm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It took a full day of impressively fast research and even faster planning to come up with something that had a reasonable chance of success and even then they had to depend on local LEOs being rallied by their contact. It had worked out about as well as they had dared to hope. Except that the guy in charge, Wilkins, had grabbed one of his 'items’ to use as a shield, dragged her backward up a flight of stairs, and disappeared through a door. The second Wilkins was out of sight, Magnum, closest to the door, had run after him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He could hear the team through his earbud and knew that at least one of them was following him. But Wilkins was fast and Magnum’s feet kept threatening to slip out from under him on the icy street. And it was wretchedly cold and his lungs and throat were already burning from the chill of the air. He could hear the girl (he'd asked her name while trying to talk Wilkins down, and she'd said “Robyn” before Wilkins had tightened his grip on her throat) whimpering as she was dragged along. He forced his legs to move faster than his brain told him was safe or smart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nuzo spared a few seconds to check everything was under control at the old chateau (and to bemoan the rushed plan that had forced them to keep Rick down in the field instead of, you know, having a sniper) before yelling that he was backing up Magnum and taking off at a dead run. The pathway was slick with ice, but both Wilkins and Magnum were already around the corner of the nearby supply shed and out of sight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nuzo tried to remember the layout of the surrounding area as he ran and thought that Wilkins might be headed for the river. If he had a truck waiting somewhere, they'd never catch him. From somewhere ahead of him came a scream and a yell, and Nuzo made it around the corner in time to see Wilkins shove his hostage and turn, gun raised, to face Magnum</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Robyn was struggling to get away and Wilkins was struggling to keep her close and the bridge was poorly lit. It all combined to make it too risky for Magnum to take a shot at the man. He just had to hope there was no getaway vehicle waiting somewhere nearby. As Wilkins reached the center of the bridge, he suddenly stumbled and cursed. Magnum realised Robyn had stamped on Wilkins’s foot as hard as she could, and he increased his stride as Wilkins shoved Robyn to the ground and turned to fire.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Magnum was closer than Wilkins had expected. He blinked, and that was all the time Magnum needed to reach him. Head down, arm up, he landed his shoulder in Wilkins’s stomach in a nearly perfect football tackle. Wilkins staggered back, hit the wall lining the bridge, and toppled over it. And Magnum fell with him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nuzo expected Magnum to stop running and pull his own sidearm. Magnum didn't bother to slow down, just threw himself at Wilkins, catching him in a tackle that would have made a professional athlete proud. Certainly Nuzo felt a surge of pride at the actions of the man he had privately thought of as being 'only slightly drier than a rainstorm’ when they first met. But then Magnum and Wilkins, thrown forward by Magnum's own momentum, both vanished over the side of the bridge, a surprised yell cut off by a splash.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nuzo pushed himself to move faster, but even so, the rapid flowing water had swept both men away by the time he reached the bridge's edge.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Thomas!" he bellowed, irrationally hoping to see his lieutenant somehow clinging to the bank. Movement caught his eye, and he turned to see Rick running to the bridge, followed by a few uniformed officers. For a brief moment, Nuzo couldn't figure out what was going on, then he heard T.C.’s voice in his ear directing people around and figured the local backup they'd been promised hours earlier had finally come through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His attention was caught by a sob, and he turned to see Robyn still standing by the wall, shaking violently. He walked toward her, uttering inanities meant to calm even as he was watching Rick sprinting down the steps to the overgrown hiking path, shouting that they needed help at the riverbank, now! Nuzo knew it was pointless to try to follow the search; the sound of the water, of the driving wind, of Robyn's continued sobs, all combined to make it impossible to hear anything. But that didn't stop him from trying to listen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Magnum realized his mistake immediately. He'd expected Wilkins to hit the wall and stop, hopefully get the wind knocked out of him. Instead, the wall had proven just the right height to topple them both over. Magnum couldn't help the shocked yell as he felt his feet leave the ground, but he quickly sucked in as deep a breath as he could and pushed his lips tightly together, hoping to avoid gasping as he hit the cold water. Part of him worried, for a split second, how Wilkins would handle the freezing water. Then they plunged into the river, and Magnum couldn't think of anything for an achingly long moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cold water awareness for civilians tells them to relax and float to increase their survival chances. Cold water training goes a little differently, and Magnum kicked as hard as he could. He could feel the water carrying him along and knew he needed to signal his team as soon as possible. He needed to try to get to Wilkins too, to ensure he didn't get the chance to escape.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Coughing as he surfaced, he looked around but couldn't see any sign of another body in the water. And he couldn't see the bridge either. The river's course, the heavily wooded area, the speed of the water, it had all combined to carry him out of sight of his team. This was bad. Resigning himself to letting Wilkins go, Magnum took a deep breath and tipped himself forward, trying to move across the water instead of allowing it to buffer him around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But there was ice on the water and he was already so cold and his vest just felt so impossibly heavy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the end it took nearly ten minutes to find Magnum. He had been swept into a tangle of dead limbs, caught up by branches that had snagged on his clothes and trapped him. It was clear from the cuts on his hands that his attempts to free himself had soon given way to increasingly weak attempts to keep his head above the surface of the water. When Rick had stumbled upon him, Magnum had been mostly submerged, only able to breathe thanks to a thick branch caught under his chin and tilting his head. His lips were a ghastly shade of blue, and Rick had been so sure his friend was dead that his cry of "he's here!" sounded like a cry of mourning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It took four men, Rick working with three of the locals, another two or three minutes to get Magnum free from the branches and out of the freezing water. T.C. stood with his group of local police on the opposite side of the bank and watched the struggle with worry and frustration on his face. He would rather have jumped in and swum across to help than watch and feel so helpless.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The paramedics, once they arrived at the scene and were directed to Magnum's location by Nuzo, were able to work much quicker. To everyone's immense relief, they quickly found signs of life and, less than five minutes later, the ambulance was racing back toward the nearest hospital, carrying a hypothermic and half-drowned Magnum with it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Local P. D.’s calling in transport for the girls,” Nuzo said, updating the others before continuing. “I saw the ambulance leave." His voice was tightly controlled. “How'd he look?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not great. But you know Thomas. He's stubborn. And he hates hospitals. He'll wake up just so he can have the pleasure of discharging himself." Rick grinned as T.C. snorted, and the sound echoed over the comms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Amen to that,” came Nuzo’s wry voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The moment passed all too quickly in the silence that followed as T.C. and Rick both looked along the path to where the uniforms could still just be seen through a gap in the trees. They were both thinking the same thing: 'Thank God it's Wilkins still in there and not Magnum.’</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"We’ve got things pretty well wrapped up here. I was thinking maybe one of us should follow Tommy to the hospital.” Rick was careful to keep his voice casual; it wouldn't do to imply any member of the team was too worried about Magnum to be able to do their job.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Good idea. He’ll only sulk if no one's there to hold his hand when he wakes up." More huffed laughter met this announcement as T.C. turned and picked his way back up to the cars. It would take someone who knew him well to realize he was hurrying as quickly as he could.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Part of him wanted to move, part of him wanted to stay still forever. His legs felt like they were going to start kicking of their own accord, but his arms felt like they were made of half-molten lead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a weight on his chest. He wasn't sure what was causing it, but he'd be really appreciative if it would move already. He tried to squirm away from whatever it was but he was just so tired. Maybe, if he took shallow breaths, it wouldn't be so bad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cold wasn't the right word, Magnum decided. It would have to be something more expressive. There was a time when his mind would have supplied the right word; he knew that much. But now, it seemed as though everything was working at half speed, and, if he did know the right word, he couldn't think of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something in his mind was muttering lazily at him, but he couldn't make himself focus. Water? Something about water. Was he thirsty? He tried to swallow, to work his throat, but got distracted by how dark it was around him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Darkness wasn't exactly his favorite thing either. Too reminiscent of nightmares and out-of-control missions. So why was he lounging around in the dark? Light, he decided; light was what he needed. He tried to swing his legs out of bed, but his body didn't seem to be listening to him. He refused to panic, assured himself that there was a rational explanation, and reached out for his bedside lamp. Or tried to. But his hand wasn't obeying him either, and now the panic was a little harder to hold down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Open your eyes, Magnum."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Idiot, whoever it was. His eyes were open.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Tommy? This is no time to be sleeping on the job.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The voice suddenly sounded familiar. Rick.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Magnum had just enough time to hope he hadn't said anything out loud before realizing that, as usual, his friend was right and his eyes really were closed. The strain of opening them made his head throb, but he was determined to go through with the action once he'd started. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>His first thought was that he shouldn't have bothered as the glaring light made his headache increase tenfold. Then his eyes slid sideways, took in the strain on Rick’s face, and his mind's new obsession with water abruptly made sense.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Did I drown?” he rasped, realizing too late that his throat actually was painfully dry. Rick reached for something, and an ice chip was suddenly pressed against Magnum’s lips. He resisted the urge to chew it, letting it melt slowly. As soon as he swallowed, Rick carefully spooned another small ice chip out of the cup, and Magnum couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his face. “Thanks,” he muttered, his throat still feeling tight and sore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wilkins didn’t make it,” Rick said quietly, fishing with the small spoon for another ice chip. “Nuzo called just a few minutes ago.” A creak told him the door to the room was being opened, but he stayed focused on the small cup in his hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why didn’t you call us when he woke?” a voice chided gently, and Rick reluctantly put the cup of ice chips back on the table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was just going to do that,” he said, not very convincingly. “I’ll uh, leave them to it, but I’ll be right outside.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Magnum didn’t reply, too focused on not coughing. His throat had gone back to feeling like it was too small, and there was an odd weight on his chest that had his breath catching in his lungs. He was almost looking forward to the examination that was coming. Hopefully his doctor would figure out what was going on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Despite what he’d said, Rick hadn’t actually stayed by the door to Magnum’s room. As soon as he left, he’d gone to find a phone, dialed a number that every member of the team had memorized, and left a cryptic message on the answering machine that picked up. The message would be picked up within a minute and passed on to their handler within five. He was pretty sure telling HQ that Magnum was out of danger was enough to count as a situation report.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If only he hadn’t decided to stop for coffee, he would have been there when Magnum stopped breathing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The doctor seemed concerned by the symptoms Magnum reported to her and made a lot of notes on his chart. He suspected she was ordering a variety of tests, none of which he was going like, but couldn’t find it within himself to care. The tightness and the pain were getting worse and there was an odd feeling on every exhale that was pulling at his memories of being in the river.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The doctor, J. Prentiss he noted absently, tried to listen to his chest but, as Doctor Prentiss prompted him to take a breath in, he started to cough and couldn’t get it under control. The muscles in his stomach started to twitch in an odd counter rhythm to the spasms of the coughing, making it harder to pull in a breath. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was vaguely aware of voices nearby, and there was a beeping sound somewhere that seemed to be getting higher pitched with every passing second. But all he could focus on was the rising panic that was bubbling up from deep inside of him. He thought he heard something about a tube but there was a roaring, thudding noise in his ears that made it impossible to hear the words that were being thrown around by the people who seemed to have suddenly appeared in his room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>More hideous gasps for breath, more pain in his chest and throat, and he was just so tired. Magnum blacked out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What exactly happened?” The voice on the end of the line was cold, almost indifferent, but no one listening to the conversation was fooled; Greene was worried.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“According to his doctor, it was something called secondary drowning.” Rick focused on the narrowed eyes of their C.O.’s face, blurry on the small screen, to avoid looking at the rest of his team. They’d arrived just as Magnum’s doctor was pushing a tube down their leader’s throat and had been hanging on Rick’s every word.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s caused by water inhalation.” Rick gladly let Nuzo take over the explanation of how the water Magnum had inhaled had caused a dangerous buildup of fluid in the stricken man’s lungs, leaving no room for air. “They’ve intubated him, and they’ll probably let the ventilator handle his breathing long enough for them to drain the fluid, but it’s rare for a ventilator to be required actually…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So what really happened?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rick trailed off at the quiet question and gave Higgins a look that was half-confusion and half-amusement. “This isn’t a White Knight novel, Jules. This is a mission.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right. So, you all… You all took off and… Thomas fell in a puddle?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rick and T.C. burst out laughing, the offended look on Magnum’s face only encouraging them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"To be fair, I don't remember a frantic riverside search."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Magnum spread his arms wide in rebuttal. "I don't believe you guys! I nearly drowned on that mission!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, but even you have to admit it was kinda your own fault."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On her hospital bed, propped up against a mass of pillows, Higgins let her eyes slide closed and smiled slightly as she listened to the good-natured bickering. She hadn't meant to start a fight, even one as obviously silly as this, but anything that took her boys' minds off her punctured lung was fine by her. She hated being fussed over.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She let the room drift away as she sank deeper into the painkiller-induced haze, noticing the tone of the voices around her had changed but not really feeling any need to find out why.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Okay, Higgy," came a quiet whisper, "we'll wait for you to wake up."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh, was she asleep? A nap did sound like a good idea. She shifted her head a little, easing the slight tension in her neck, and slipped into an oddly vivid dream of swimming in a pool of cold water, never quite reaching the shore, but, because she knew her boys were there somewhere, she never quite brought herself to care.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Drowning is always fun, right? And the boys being big brothers to their little sister Higgy just kills me.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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